A new study out of the University of Washington has found that Evangelical Christians have a divorce rate of 43 percent – significantly higher than the national average.

Many are questioning whether the high divorce rate in this highly religious group damages their credibility when it comes to talking about morality, gay marriage, and other related issues. Others are simply wondering why the divorce rate is so high and what they can do to curb the numbers.

The Bible that Evangelical Christians live by is adamantly against divorce, but Evangelicals are facing the same relationship issues that non-religious people face: the stress of raising families, money problems, infidelity, and even simply fading love or drifting apart. Many Christians are finding that although they theoretically don’t believe that divorce is right, it could be right (or even necessary) in their own private lives.

Those outside the church wonder if the Evangelical Christian divorce rate takes the punch of the same group’s adamant stance against gay marriage – and whether the group should focus on stopping others from marrying instead of focusing on strengthening their own marital ties. Others are urging their fellow Evangelical Christians to be more open about marital problems and relationship struggles.

Right now, church officials are struggling to find an answer to this issue. They hope that encouraging marriage counseling and pre-marital counseling will help – at the same time, many unhappy couples are looking to the church for help with their relationship struggles.